The pressure on Fernando Torres increased on Wednesday as Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti suggested starting him against Manchester United may have been a mistake.
The centre-forward, signed from Liverpool for 50 million pounds (72.5 million dollars) in January
, was withdrawn at half-time in the Champions League quarter-final second leg after another listless display.
Didier Drogba, who has appeared in much the better form of the two (while being far from his best) in recent weeks, came on at half-time and scored Chelsea's goal in a 2-1 defeat that saw them eliminated by a 3-1 aggregate.
Asked if starting Torres was a mistake, Ancelotti replied, "Maybe. Could be. I told you a lot of times this season I wanted to start with Fernando for this kind of game, these type of tactics.
"Didier played well in the second half. I wanted to put more pressure up front because we needed to score. Didier was fresh and he could use his power up front. This was the reason I took out Fernando."
Torres has been out of sorts since a knee operation last March, and there has been widespread speculation that his continued selection for Chelsea, for whom he has still not scored, is a result of influence form club owner Roman Abramovich.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson made clear that he felt Torres played only because of the size of the fee Chelsea paid for him.
"A lot of people thought Drogba would play," he said. I thought having signed Torres for the money they did they had to play him. I wasn't 100 per cent sure but I couldn't see how they could leave Torres out.
"They had the opportunity to sign Torres and I don't think anyone would have turned it down.
"You can't criticise him (Ancelotti) for that, it was a good signing. It isn't working at the moment but he is a young man and there are other seasons ahead."
The centre-forward, signed from Liverpool for 50 million pounds (72.5 million dollars) in January
, was withdrawn at half-time in the Champions League quarter-final second leg after another listless display.
Didier Drogba, who has appeared in much the better form of the two (while being far from his best) in recent weeks, came on at half-time and scored Chelsea's goal in a 2-1 defeat that saw them eliminated by a 3-1 aggregate.
Asked if starting Torres was a mistake, Ancelotti replied, "Maybe. Could be. I told you a lot of times this season I wanted to start with Fernando for this kind of game, these type of tactics.
"Didier played well in the second half. I wanted to put more pressure up front because we needed to score. Didier was fresh and he could use his power up front. This was the reason I took out Fernando."
Torres has been out of sorts since a knee operation last March, and there has been widespread speculation that his continued selection for Chelsea, for whom he has still not scored, is a result of influence form club owner Roman Abramovich.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson made clear that he felt Torres played only because of the size of the fee Chelsea paid for him.
"A lot of people thought Drogba would play," he said. I thought having signed Torres for the money they did they had to play him. I wasn't 100 per cent sure but I couldn't see how they could leave Torres out.
"They had the opportunity to sign Torres and I don't think anyone would have turned it down.
"You can't criticise him (Ancelotti) for that, it was a good signing. It isn't working at the moment but he is a young man and there are other seasons ahead."
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